NCJ Number
208941
Journal
Trial Lawyer Volume: 24 Dated: 2001 Pages: 301-307
Date Published
2001
Length
7 pages
Annotation
This article, part one of two, presents a review of the research literature on why eyewitnesses make mistakes.
Abstract
Incorrect eyewitness identifications are responsible for more miscarriages of justice than perhaps all other factors combined. However, jurors have repeatedly demonstrated their willingness to believe the accuracy of eyewitness testimony. This article reviews the current literature regarding the accuracy of eyewitness memory and testimony beginning with a look at the prevalence of eyewitness errors. In a 1996 National Institute of Justice study of 28 erroneous sexual assault convictions, 86 percent of the erroneous convictions were based primarily on incorrect eyewitness identification. The authors next review the research regarding eyewitness memory in order to highlight the most recent advances in this field. Research findings on how observers encode the event and suspect are reviewed, as are findings about retention intervals and retrieving the memory of the event or suspect. Finally, the effects of witness and suspect factors on the accuracy of eyewitness accounts are reviewed and include a presentation of the current state of knowledge on child eyewitnesses and the influence of race on eyewitness reliability, termed the “other-race effect.” Endnotes